


History Project

by GatorGirl2016



Series: A Fic A Day [42]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Acceptance, Alternate Universe - High School, Aunt Ellen Harvelle, Autism, Autistic Castiel (Supernatural), Cute, Cute Ending, Friendship, High School Student Castiel (Supernatural), High School Student Dean Winchester, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GatorGirl2016/pseuds/GatorGirl2016
Summary: Dean and Castiel get paired up for a history project. Dean gets angry at Cas and goes to talk to the teacher where he learns something about his partner. Afterwards, he's much more willing to work with Cas.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: A Fic A Day [42]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853566
Comments: 8
Kudos: 131
Collections: Writer's Month 2020





	History Project

**Author's Note:**

> For Writer's Month 2020 and the prompt was high school.  
> So, I'm really nervous posting this since it deals with such a sensitive topic. As a teacher, I have had to learn how to work with kids of all kinds and it saddens me to know that some children have a hard time in school because they are a little different. Everybody should be accepted for who they are no matter what.

“Winchester, Novak, you two are the last pair of partners. Alright everybody, you have the rest of the period to determine what your project is going to be on. Remember, you must get it approved by me before you can begin working,” Ms. Harvelle said to her senior AP history class.

Dean sighed at hearing who he got partnered with. Castiel Novak was not the worst person to get partnered with but he wasn’t even close to the top of Dean’s list. Dean looked at Benny, his top choice, and felt a surge of jealousy that he got paired with the school’s genius, Kevin Tran. Benny was guaranteed to get an “A” now. Dean grabbed his bag and walked towards Castiel, who was sitting in the back right corner of the room, like he did in every class. For some odd reason, Cas refused to sit in any other seat.

Dean dropped his backpack on the ground before pulling a chair up and joining Cas at the table. “Hey Castiel, looks like we are partners,” Dean said nonchalantly.

Cas, who was drawing something in his notebook, didn’t look up but nodded his head. “Hello Dean. It seems we are. I’m sorry for that. I know that I wasn’t your first choice.”

“How could you know that?” Dean asked.

Cas glanced up before looking back down at his notebook. “I am the weird kid that nobody wants to work with. I’m sure you would have preferred Benny or Lisa. You probably would have taken Ketch over me.”

Dean grimaced. “Ugh, no! You’re way better than that snotty brit who thinks he knows everything. Honestly, Cas, I don’t mind being partnered with you.”

As he continued to watch Cas, he noticed the other boy suddenly set his pencil down and quietly clap his hands together three times before picking his pencil back up and start drawing again. Dean thought it odd but didn’t say anything; everybody had their eccentricities. He grabbed his pen and notebook from his bag and sat them on the table. “Alright Cas, any ideas on what to do our project on?” He waited for the other student to answer, but Cas just continued to draw in his book. Like before, Cas randomly put his pencil down and then clapped his hands three times. “Uh, Cas, you ok?”

After a few seconds, Cas finally responded. “I am fine. Do you have an idea about a project to do?”

Dean huffed. “That’s what I just asked you. Look, why don’t we look through the list of topics Ms. Harvelle gave us and mark any we would want to do. Then we can compare our choices and see if we have any in common.”

Cas clapped his hands again as he responded. “That sounds like a good idea.” He grabbed his list and started reading through it, never once looking at Dean.

“No wonder people don’t want to work with him,” Dean thought as he started going through the list. He marked off five things: Mongol Empire, Japanese Samurai, Roman Empire, Aztec Empire, and Greek Mythology. “Alright, I’ve got my list, what about you?”

Cas finally looked at Dean as he nodded his head. “My list is complete.” He clapped his hands again before sliding the list to Dean.

Dean looked at Cas’ list and was surprised at how many options on the list he checked off. Out of twenty-five topics, Cas checked off twenty-one. The four that he didn’t check were all the ones Dean had checked on his own list. There was only one choice they had in common: Greek Mythology. “Well, it seems we only have one item in common and that’s Greek mythology. Do you want to do that one since we both checked it off?”

“I think that would be best. What is your favorite topic relating to Greek mythology?” Cas asked as he continued to draw.

Dean could feel anger rising as his classmate kept ignoring him. He was trying to be a good partner and work with Cas and yet the other boy would barely look at him. Dean didn’t expect them to become best friends, but they could at least be civil and work together to get this project done. “Dude, would you look at me when you’re talking to me? I don’t even know if you’re paying me any attention.” Cas clapped again and went right back to his drawing. “And would you quit with the clapping, it’s really annoying!”

It was as if Cas didn’t even hear Dean as he kept on drawing. They sat in silence for a few minutes and when Cas clapped his hands again, Dean barely kept his anger under control. “Did you not hear me? I asked you to stop with the clapping!”

Cas actually looked at him and Dean felt bad when he saw Cas’ bright blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “I’m sorry I’m so aggravating to you Dean. If I could stop clapping, I would. If keeping eye contact with people didn’t cause me such anxiety, I would do it more often. Maybe we should just ask Ms. Harvelle if we can do our projects individually. Most of the teachers will make an exception because of my… uh, condition. They don’t want to deal with me either.” Cas dropped his gaze and went back to drawing, clapping his hands a few seconds later.

Dean was shocked at what Cas had just said. What condition did Cas have that would cause him to avoid eye contact and repetitively clap his hands? Even though he was weird and annoying, to think that even Cas’ teachers had been mean to him was heartbreaking. Dean suddenly felt really bad about his outburst. He looked over at Ms. Harvelle and decided he needed to talk to her.

Dean stood up and waited to see if Cas would look up. He noticed the other boy’s shoulders slumped and Cas sped up his drawing but otherwise didn’t move. Dean sighed as he walked over to the teacher. “Uh, Ms. Harvelle, can I speak to you privately for a moment?”

Ms. Harvelle looked up from her computer and smiled as she said, “Of course, Dean. What do you need?”

Dean chewed on his lip and cast a glance in Cas’ direction. The boy was still drawing, not paying anyone else in the room any attention. He looked back at his teacher. “It’s about Cas.”

“If you’re going to ask to work on your own, the answer is no,” she said before Dean could continue.

“Um, that’s not what I was going to ask. I mean, I was going to until Cas said something that was really sad,” Dean replied.

“Oh. What did he say?” She asked with concern.

“He said that he had a condition and most of the teachers didn’t want to deal with him because of it. I know Cas isn’t super popular, but I thought that teachers liked all of their students,” Dean said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Ms. Harvelle snorted. “Trust me Dean, teachers don’t like all of their students. You better not tell anybody I said that, or I’ll never make you one of my special burgers again.”

Dean grinned. “Yes, Aunt Ellen, my lips are sealed. Do you know what condition Cas has?”

She was silent and Dean feared she wouldn’t tell him. After a minute, “I shouldn’t tell you, but I think it will help you understand Castiel a bit better. Castiel is autistic. That’s why he doesn’t retain eye contact very often, why he typically draws, and why he claps every so often. He will also not always answer you when you call him and sometimes has a hard time understanding other’s emotions.”

“Oh man, I really screwed up. I got so mad at him, but I didn’t know. I need to go apologize,” Dean said, his voice full of guilt.

Ellen stood from her seat and put a gentle hand on her adoptive nephew’s shoulder. “Dean don’t beat yourself up. You aren’t the first and sadly you won’t be the last. As you heard Cas say, a lot of his teachers have a hard time accepting him. I just hope from now on, you won’t be so quick to judge others.”

Dean dropped his gaze. “I promise not to. I feel really bad and just hope Cas will still want to work with me.”

Ellen flashed a smile at the teen. “Apologize and make sure he knows that you’re sorry. Honestly, I put you with Cas for a reason. I figured if there was anyone in class who would be willing to understand him and work with him, it would be you. One more tip, even if Cas looks like he’s ignoring you, he’s probably not.”

Dean felt a little better after hearing Ellen’s words. “Thanks, and I promise Cas and I will have an amazing project to turn in.”

Dean walked back to his seat and this time when Cas clapped, he didn’t find it as annoying as before. “Hey Cas, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the way I acted before. I shouldn’t have gotten mad about things you can’t, uh, control. I promise to be more patient from now on.”

Cas didn’t look at him, but Dean was able to make out the smile that spread across his face. “Thank you, Dean. That means a lot. Does this mean that you want to be my partner?”

“Yeah Cas it does,” Dean replied with a grin. “So, my favorite topic in Greek mythology is the gods and goddesses. What about you?”

Cas nodded. “That’s actually my favorite topic as well. So, what kind of project do you want to do?”

“Alright guys, we’ve got about five minutes before class ends,” Ms. Harvelle warned.

“Hey, how about you come home with me today after school and we can brainstorm some ideas?” Dean offered as he packed his bag up.

“That would be acceptable. I will meet you after school by the gym,” Cas replied as he packed his own backpack up except for his notebook and pencil. While they waited for the bell to ring, he continued to draw in his book.

Dean looked over to see what he was drawing and gasped. “Dude, that’s amazing! How the heck can you draw that with just a pencil? Man, my stick figures are pathetic and here you are drawing a rendition of ‘A Starry Night.’”

Cas glanced at him with a smile before immediately dropping his eyes. “Thank you, Dean. I love drawing and this is my favorite painting, so I decided to try and draw it myself. It’s not as good as Van Gogh’s, but I’m proud of it.”

Dean’s eyes lit up. “That’s it! What if we made a book on the gods and goddesses? You can do the artwork and I could come up with a story? My drawing sucks, but my writing is pretty great.”

Cas nodded, clapping his hands excitedly. “I love that idea! We need to get it approved; I hope Ms. Harvelle will approve it.”

Dean stood from his seat and hurried over to his aunt. He told her their idea and she was very excited about their project. He walked back to Cas; a large smile plastered on his face. “She gave us a very enthusiastic yes! So, we can start working on it today after school, if you still want to come over that is.”

“I would still like to come over. The sooner we get started, the better,” Cas replied right as the bell rang.

The two boys walked out of class together, Cas drawing as he walked. Dean kept an eye out to make sure Castiel didn’t run into anything, but he didn’t need it. The other student avoided every obstacle with ease. They said their goodbyes as they parted ways, Dean going to science and Cas walking towards the art building.

By the end of their project, which they got an “A+” on, Cas had become one of Dean’s best friends. Five years later, Cas was a successful artist and Dean was working on his third book to publish. They were still best friends, but now they were also husbands who loved each other unconditionally.


End file.
